Blaming the homeless for the murders, even tho the police won’t publicly do it. Fact challenged. He’s got it all.
It starts off like this . . . .
Pretty depressing April so far. Winter won’t leave.
And neither will the predators who haunt downtown Madison. Three unsolved murders. A scorched skeleton where a cathedral once stood. And a State Street that is becoming the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
You’ll have to read the rest for yourself if you can stomach it.
Tho, watch out for this gem.
Maybe we are just plain wrong to think that we can pepper our public places with malevolent panhandlers with no adverse results. We are now seeing proof that small, tactical blunders making State Street felon-friendly are leading to a major strategic problem, as in Downtown Madison is Unsafe.
And at times, murderous.
Someone want to tell him we have laws against aggressive panhandling? And that the police work with the courts to ban people on probation and parole from State Street and W. Washington Avenue.
24.12 MENACING OR AGGRESSIVE PANHANDLING PROHIBITED.
(1) Purpose . The purpose of this ordinance is to ensure unimpeded pedestrian traffic flow, to maintain and protect the physical safety and well-being of pedestrians and to otherwise foster a safe and harassment-free climate in public places in the City of Madison.
(2) Definitions . As used in this section:
(a) “Intersection” has the meaning designated in Section 340.01(25), Wis. Stats.
(b) “Public place” or “Place open to the public” is an area generally visible to public view and includes streets, sidewalks, bridges, alleys, plazas, parks, driveways, parking lots, automobiles (whether moving or not), and buildings open to the general public including those which serve food or drink, or provide entertainment, and the doorways or entrances in buildings or dwellings and the grounds enclosing them;
(c) “Known panhandler” means a person who within one year previous to the date of arrest for violation of this section has been convicted in a court of competent jurisdiction of any civil or criminal offense involving panhandling.
(d) A conversation or gesture or both shall be construed as “threatening” if a reasonably prudent individual would perceive such conduct as intending to result in the procurement of money or goods by threat or coercion.
(e) Behavior shall be construed as “aggressive” or “intimidating” if a reasonably prudent individual could be deterred from passing through or remaining in or near any thoroughfare, or place open to the public because of fear, concern or apprehension.
(Am. by ORD-05-00116, 6-28-05)
(3) In or near any thoroughfare or place open to the public, no person either individually or as part of a group shall procure or attempt to procure a handout from another in a manner or under circumstances manifesting an express or implied threat or coercion. Among the circumstances which may be considered in determining whether such purpose or behavior is manifested are the following: that such person is a known panhandler; that such person repeatedly and in a threatening fashion, beckons to, stops, or attempts to stop passer(s)-by; that such person engages passer(s)-by in threatening conversation; or that such person utilizes threatening bodily gestures. The violator’s conduct must be such as to demonstrate a specific intent to induce, solicit, or procure from another goods or money by threat or coercion. No arrest shall be made for a violation of this subsection unless the arresting officer first affords such person an opportunity to explain such conduct, and no one shall be convicted of violating this subsection if it appears at trial that the explanation given was true and disclosed a lawful purpose.
(4) In or near any thoroughfare or place open to the public, no person either individually or as part of a group shall procure or attempt to procure a handout from another in an aggressive or intimidating manner. Among the circumstances which may be considered in determining whether such purpose or behavior is manifested are the following: that such person is a known panhandler; that such person continues to beckon to, accost or follow or ask passer(s)-by for a handout after the passer(s)-by has failed to respond or has told the person “no”; that such person engages in a course of conduct or commits any act which harasses or intimidates the passer(s)-by; or that such person utilizes or attempts to utilize bodily gestures or physical contact to impede the path of any passer(s)-by, including but not limited to unwanted touching or blocking the path or impeding the free movement of the passer(s)-by. The violator’s conduct must be such as to demonstrate a specific intent to induce, solicit, or procure from another goods or money by aggressive or intimidating behavior. No arrest shall be made for a violation of this subsection unless the arresting officer first affords such person an opportunity to explain such conduct, and no one shall be convicted of violating this subsection if it appears at trial that the explanation given was true and disclosed a lawful purpose.
(5) It shall be unlawful for any person to procure or attempt to procure a handout within fifty (50) feet of an automatic teller machine (ATM) or within twenty-five (25) feet of any open sidewalk cafe. (Am. by ORD-05-00116, 6-28-05)
(6) It shall be unlawful for any person, after having been warned that such activity is prohibited, to procure or attempt to procure a handout within twenty-five (25) feet of an intersection or within twelve (12) feet of any building that contains nonresidential uses or within twenty (20) feet of any building entrance that contains nonresidential uses. (Am. by ORD-05-00116, 6-28-05)
(7) It shall be unlawful for any person to sit or recline on a public sidewalk with an intent to procure or attempt to procure a handout.
(8) Penalty . Any person violating this section shall be subject to a forfeiture of not less than $10 nor more than $200, notwithstanding any provision of this chapter setting a different penalty.
(9) Severability . The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section is held to be invalid or unconstitutional or if the application of any provision of this section to any person or circumstance is held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such holding shall not affect the other provisions or applications of this section which can be given effect without the invalid or unconstitutional provisions or applications. It is hereby declared to be the intent of the Common Council that this section wouldhave been adopted had any invalid or unconstitutional provision or applications not been included herein.
And watch for this gem too.
Student populations, especially one the size of Madison’s, come with their own set of problems. But with its naïve and negligent homeless policy the city has enhanced the problem.
College students are easy to abuse. Especially female ones.
They are poor, young and without power.
We should protect them.
But the notion of Law and Order is anathema to Madison progressives. The very term sounds Draconian to them. Never mind that is one of government’s first responsibilities.
Never mind that we added 40 police officers in the last 2 years (about 10% of our force) or that we have laws in place like these:
BEING IN PARKS OVERNIGHT ILLEGAL
8.21 PUBLIC PARKS TO BE CLOSED DURING CERTAIN HOURS.
It shall be unlawful for any person to be or remain in Link Park or James Madison Park between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., to be or remain in Berkley Park from sunset to sunrise, or to be or remain in any other public park in the City of Madison between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. This prohibition shall include bathing beaches contiguous or adjacent to public parks, but shall not prohibit passing through a park area either in a vehicle or on foot without stopping during such hours; nor,shall this ordinance apply to those parks designated by the Superintendent of the Parks Division which have regularly scheduled recreational activities which conclude after 10:00 p.m. Parks which are not closed at 10:00 p.m. due to scheduled recreational events shall be closed at 11:00 p.m. except for participants in overnight activities approved by the Superintendent of the Parks Division. The entrances of all parks shall be conspicuously posted indicating the closing hours of the park. The Warner Park Baseball Field and Parking Lot may remain open until the conclusion of scheduled minor league baseball games; in no case may any inning start after 11:50 p.m. The Common Council may by resolution permit specific parks to be open after 11:00 p.m. for designated events approved by the Common Council. Hours in conservation parks shall be governed by Sec. 8.40, M.G.O. Any person violating any provision of this ordinance shall be subject to a forfeiture of not more than $200. (Am. by Ord. 12,372, 5-6-99; Ord. 13,010, 2-08-02; Ord. 13,560, Adopted 12-14-04)
LIVING IN PARKS ILLEGAL
8.265 LODGING IN PARKS PROHIBITED.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to lodge, to live in for a time, or to take habitation in any portion of a public park within the City of Madison. Evidence of lodging shall include but not be limited to bedrolls, mattresses, blankets, cooking utensils, clothing, and other personal belongings.
(2) Penalty. Any person who violates this section shall be subject to a forfeiture of not less than twenty-five dollars ($25) nor more than two hundred dollars ($200). Each and every day during which a violation continues shall be deemed to be a separate violation.
I’m curious, what is our “naive and negligent homeless policy” that we have in Madison? I’d like to get a copy of it. I always thought that our policy on the homeless in the City of Madison was that we would control where homeless shelters got built and services for the homeless were up to the County, State and Federal Governments. The only money we put into homeless programs comes from those sources.
Yeah, nevermind the facts, just trash the progressives and engage in the fear-mongering. In fact, I think I heard progressives are murdering students – pass it on. Madison residents aren’t that stupid to be buying this crap are they? Mr. Roach – you want a Safer Madison Week or Month – I’ll sponsor that resolution. It’s not going to solve any problems, but it might make people like Mr. Roach feel good. Meanwhile, people will still be homeless and sleeping on our streets. Look, our national and therefore local economy isn’t great, housing isn’t very affordable in Madison, we don’t have immediate access to Alcohol and Drug rehab services for people who need it, we have a health care system that can’t afford to treat our mentally ill and we need to help people get access to decent jobs – meaning transportation and skills. I think working on any of the items mentioned in the previous sentence are going to get us a whole lot further than “Safer Madison Week” or passing more laws for our over-burdened police department to enforce.
